Tag: Ska

I can count on one hand the amount of local bands that I followed in high school that still perform today. Of that handful, there is one that has elevated to an international success and I keep purchasing every release to date. That band is Authority Zero. When I first found them, it was twenty years ago when I got my driver’s license and started finding my taste in music. The first lineup I knew was Jason DeVore, Jeremy Wood, Bill Marcks, and Jim Wilcox. I made every effort to…

Third wave ska was born out of the punk scene in the late eighties, combining the sound of old school ska with the upbeat and fast paced nature of punk. Of those within the genre, there is only a pair I have watched in double digit. One of those tattooed on my arm, Less than Jake, and the other is Reel Big Fish. I used to joke they were a band that I couldn’t miss. That I always ended up at their Phoenix stops regardless of remembering they were playing.…

How often do you see a two band show? I feel like it is rare that any show I attend isn’t a minimum of three. However, that is exactly what happened on Streetlight Manifesto’s latest trip to Phoenix with Kitty Kat Fan Club. Although with bands this good, two is a good number. Our openers were Kitty Kat Fan Club, a familiar group to anyone who went to the last times that Streetlight Manifesto or Koo Koo Kanga Roo came to town. I was in attendance at both, though felt…

Certainly one of the best of the best in the Phoenix punk scene are the Linecutters. They join me for the difficulty and the character creator of Bloodborne. We chat about their recent tours, why the Nile Underground is a good venue, the DIY shows, and video games.

The amount of music festivals popping up over the past couple years has grown exponentially. A few stationary ones continue to grow, such as The Fest and Punk Rock Bowling. Meanwhile, the format of craft brew tasting mixed with music from a few of your favorite bands has begun to be the predominant model for the newer ones. This year in the stead of the annual Sabroso festival, Arizona and Phoenix residents were treated to the first ever Bash Festival headlined by Rancid. Joining them for this stop was the…

Mobility and movement will grab the attention of those seeing it from the corner of their eyes. It is a way to release and use energy. For musicians, a lot of it is energy they feed off from performing music and the audience members. It would be the theme of a most of these musicians on this night from Pointbreak to Death by Stereo. The lineup was packed, with Life and Limb, Elvis Cortez, the Venomous Pinks, and Toxic Energy four more bands playing this Friday night at the Yucca…

Now we come to the second of two lists, from listening to over 50 local releases. I posted up my 10 favorite local EP’s from that list, and now comes my top 10 favorite full length albums from the Phoenix music scene. 10. Off the Mark – Aging Disgracefully This is another older band making a return, however I had not listened to last they were active. Their first track screams album anthem with the alternating guitar tones to begin. It leads into quality sung and played tracks. The album…

There were so many albums that I listened to in 2018 that I broke them out into two lists for the Locals. On this one you will find my top ten favorite EP’s that Phoenix local bands put out over the course of the year 10. FoL – Therapy Probably was not a surprise to find FoL on this list once again. They only build on the quality of that last album with this one. Seven more great tracks to get stuck in your head. My only sour grapes about…

Twenty years ago there was a small festival that started up in Las Vegas as a couple of club shows. That festival gradually grew to become what everyone knows as Punk Rock Bowling. Five years ago, in a similar idea for the Phoenix scene, Andy Jones put on the first ever Phoenix Ska Punk Bowling. The goal was to bring together our local punk, ska, and rockabilly at an affordable price for a couple days. Each year brings a couple national headliners too, that first one included Teenage Bottlerocket, The…

If you have been around the national punk scene in recent years, you have probably spotted Erin Micklow. Either her spiked hair roaming around Punk Rock Bowling, on her YouTube channel, or just with a search of punk social media. The social media bringing out the critics and the praise. I had the pleasure of meeting her briefly at this year’s Punk Rock Bowling. As one working to bring bands to the attention of more, I truly appreciate seeing her work with the Last Rockers TV channel on YouTube. Though,…